Visiting Them All
by lilkawa
Summary: In which Mr. Bennet has to visit all his new neighbours...


_Pride and Prejudice_ doesn't belong to me.

Thanks Miriam1 for all your help.

**Visiting Them All**

As Mr. Bennet made his way to Camberton, the home of his new neighbour, Mr. Longfellow, he sincerely regretted his words, "When there are twenty, I'll visit them all." What had he been thinking when he'd uttered those words? Obviously that there would never be any more than two eligible men in the area at a time, so he wouldn't have to do it, but here he was, visiting eligible young men. He had tried to argue that there were only five and not twenty new neighbours, but Mrs. Bennet wouldn't hear any of his excuses, and truthfully, Mr. Bennet wanted to meet his neighbours. From what he had heard of them from Sir Lucas, one or two of them were going to be very interesting additions to the neighbourhood.

Mr. Longfellow seemed to be the most interesting of them all – but then, Mr. Bennet had just begun his visit, so it was probably too early to tell. He was an energetic young man who was interested in studying butterflies. Mr. Bennet had never been interested in butterflies, or any insects for that matter, but after visiting with Mr. Longfellow for about half an hour, he felt sure that he could name all the butterflies in the county.

Mr. Pinter was too interested in prose for Mr. Bennet's liking, although he had to admit that Mary would probably find him very interesting. He had recited most of Shakespeare's sonnets, going on and on about how gifted the Bard was and how he'd been to watch _Hamlet_ and _Macbeth_ at the theatre, more than twice. "It's such a pity you don't have such entertainment here," he told Mr. Bennet. "But I guess the differences between the town and country must be maintained." As Mr. Bennet was leaving, Mr. Pinter asked him again if he had read of the great works. "If you haven't, my dear neighbour, don't feel shy, come round at any time. My door is always open."

Of all his new neighbours, Mr. Bryne was the one most likely to appeal to the young ladies in the neighbourhood. He was tall and good-looking, and had a very charming accent, and he was richer than all the new neighbours combined. He had brought with him a foreign cook whose dishes had already captured the attention of many in the neighbourhood. Mr. Bryne had also let it be known that he was in search of a wife. He told Mr. Bennet that he'd heard about the Misses Bennet and that he couldn't wait to make their acquaintance. Mr. Bennet didn't spend very long at his new neighbour's house, as Mr. Bryne was on his way back to London; however, there was to be a ball at his house when he returned seven days hence.

After calling on Mr. Bryne, Mr. Bennet made his way to Mr. Morecambe's house. Thankfully, his visits would end there and then he could go home and rest. He never ceased to thank God that he now had two daughters instead of five to worry about. While Mr. Bennet was thankful that Lydia was married and that she seemed happy, or so his wife informed him, it was his dear Lizzy's and Jane's unions to Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley that brought him the most joy. He couldn't wait for them to give him grandchildren. In fact, if Mrs. Bennet hadn't reminded him of his words, he would have been visiting Jane and Elizabeth right now. Yet he was visiting the likes of Mr. Morecambe.

Well, they could cross Mr. Morecambe off the list unless they wanted to be saddled with his widowed mother as well, and as much as he wanted to see his daughters married, he didn't want to know Mrs. Morecambe any more than he did right now. Poor Mr. Morecambe was so browbeaten by his mother, he could hardly get out two words on his own.

As he entered his carriage and made his way back to Longbourn, Mr. Bennet couldn't help but be thankful that he had somehow survived the day. He had called on all their new neighbours.

000

"There you are, Mr. Bennet." Mrs. Bennet must have looking out for him. "Did you manage to see them all?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, my dear," he replied.

"And?"

"Well they were quite interesting, if you must know," he said.

"That's good," Mrs. Bennet brightened. She waited for him to add something, but Mr. Bennet didn't say a word, and she followed him to his study.

"Yes, my dear?" he asked her. She frowned at him and forced herself not to wring her hands and burst into tears. After watching her husband go through his books in silence, she decided to leave.

As she opened the door, he revealed, "Mr. Bryne is having a ball at his house next week."

Mrs. Bennet turned and stared at her husband. "Mr. Bryne?"

"The rich one."

Mrs. Bennet smiled to herself; Lady Lucas hadn't had that piece of information when she'd called round earlier that day.

**Hope You enjoyed it.**


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